Thorsten Fehlberg

Thorsten Fehlberg is a Research Assistant at Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media working on the DFG Priority Program project 'Knowledge Architectures: Mapping structures of Jewish heritagization processes.' He holds a concurrent position as an Associated Researcher at the Else-Frenkel-Brunswik-Institut and is a PhD candidate at the University of Cologne's Faculty of Human Sciences, focusing on socio-political activism among descendants of Nazi persecution victims.

His research examines transgenerational trauma transmission, political activism among Jewish and Roma/Sinti communities, and contemporary right-wing extremism. Fehlberg's work bridges political science, social geography, and memory studies, with particular emphasis on:

• Self-organization and empowerment strategies of marginalized groups
• Intergenerational impacts of historical persecution
• Memory politics in post-migrant societies
• Intersections of religion, identity, and resistance

His publications demonstrate consistent focus on descendant communities' agency, with recent works exploring religious dimensions of Jewish activism and empowerment mechanisms among Roma and Sinti populations. He maintains active participation in research networks including the International Forum for Jewish Music Studies and Netzwerk jüdisches Kulturerbe.

Fehlberg's academic trajectory includes previous roles as:

• Project manager at the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution (2013-2019)
• Researcher for the #WaswillstDutun? multimedia project at the Foundation of Hamburg Memorials (2020-2023)

He received doctoral funding from the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk (2021-2024) supporting his investigations into activist motivations among descendant communities.